​​Our next Savings and Credit Forum (11th May 2016) will feature 6 case studies from the field that hightlight different aspects of "Progress and Challenges in Inclusive Agriculture Insurance Market Development". We have the privilege to get these Studies presented by experts who will join us from the field. They will introduce us to experiences from Eastern Africa, Bangladesh, Central America, Haiti, and two regional approaches.

The Forum on the 11th of May 2016 (Bern) builds on our previous Fora:

"Agricultural and Catastrophe Insurance: Potential and challenges in reducing the vulnerability of smallholder farmers and low-income households" (2013)
"Agricultural Micro Insurance: Powerful Tool for Vulnerability Reduction of the Poor?" (2010)
"Microinsurance: Introduction, case studies, outlook" (2007)

and also on a module at the 2012 f2f event of AFS on Agriculture Micro-Insurance.

This time you will be able to gain insights into several fascinating Case Studies on agricultural insurance market development:

Case Study 1: ACRE Africa's social business model to insure smallholder farmers in Eastern Africa
Case Study 2: Pioneering livestock mortality insurance for marginal farmers in Bangladesh
Case Study 3: Initial findings from insuring micro enterprises and smallholder farmers in Central America
Case Study 4: Developing a national agriculture insurance system in Haiti
Case Study 5: Insurance and other risk mitigation for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Senegal, Malawi, and Sambia.
Case Study 6: Improving national rice insurance markets for smallholder farmers via radar-based remote sensing technology in India, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The presentations will be followed by a Panel Discussion on Agriculture Insurance Market Development.

The Forum will be held in English. You can register and download the complete programme here.

Background:

For over 40 years SDC has been engaged in financial sector development as an important poverty alleviation strategy and it has always stressed the importance of savings mobilisation as the first step of financial inclusion for low-income people. Additional to that, for several years now, SDC has increasingly focused on promoting agriculture and catastrophe insurance market development as the last frontier of financial inclusion in partnership with global re-insurers since protection against agricultural risks (harvest failure, cattle disease) and natural disasters pose special challenges.

Agriculture and catastrophe insurances are mostly large group insurance policies linked with governmental risk pools and strong government involvement where significant risk segments are transferred to the global reinsurance market, but this Forum will demonstrated innovative social business models that are independent from government premium subsidies.

After an SDC organised expert meeting on agricultural & catastrophe insurance in autumn 2013, SDC published guidelines on "Insurance for smallholder farmers and vulnerable households against catastrophic events. Guiding principles for donors and governments". This paper provides information specific to projects dealing with agricultural and catastrophe insurance. It aims to provide high-level guidance on designing or assessing ACI projects and includes a section on monitoring, too.

The Forum will be followed by a two day expert meeting taking stock of the progress made by the various agriculture insurance schemes since the last workshop in 2013 and to deepen and exchange the above mentioned agriculture insurance guidelines.